Oregano in a Garden

One of the best parts of warm weather is being able to plant a garden. Many people pride themselves in growing the biggest pumpkins, the best watermelons, and TONS of zucchini. I’ve decided to do things a little bit different since I don’t enjoy eating pumpkins and my watermelons never turn out as good as the ones I get in the store. Zucchini works well in the popular quick bread recipe, but I don’t make enough to justify taking up the valuable space in my garden for it. My garden is now planted with a purpose…with meal plans using everything in it.

It’s no secret that I love spicy foods, and I really enjoy using herbs when I cook…fresh herbs aren’t at all comparable to the dried stuff. This year (2011), my garden is planted with the purpose of Mexican, French, & Italian cuisines.

Roma Tomatoes

Here is a list of what I’ve planted from seeds in the garden this year:

• Roma Tomatoes
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Yellow Pear Tomatoes
• Tomatillos (This year will be a first for this one)
• Cayenne Peppers
• Habanero Peppers
• Jalapeno Peppers
• Cilantro
• Oregano
• Basil
• Thyme
• Rosemary
• Chives
• Sage
• Spearmint
• Yellow Onions
• Cucumbers
• Green Beans

A Garden

After looking at this list, it must seem like my garden takes up a LOT of space. The trick is to limit yourself on the number of each type of plant. I let my herbs grow really close to each other, and they usually intertwine…it doesn’t make a difference to me since it’s easy to tell them apart.

My garden fits my needs, and I can’t wait to start being able to eat stuff from it. The quick tip you can take from this article is to steer away from planting the ‘typical’ garden…don’t plant things you haven’t ended up eating in the past.

Please feel free to share types of things that you grow (or would like to grow) in your garden.

Gummy Bears by Werner Kunz

During a lunch break the other day, I was on my way back to the office when I noticed a Jamba Juice shop in the corner of my eye. My mouth started watering and before I knew it, I was ordering a delicious snack from the secret ‘underground’ menu at Jamba Juice. (Close your eyes and imagine a white gummy bear in ice-cream-ish form…YUM!)

It turns out that the recipe for a white gummy-style smoothie is quite simple. I found it after a quick Google search – and feeling rather generous, felt like making my favorite smoothie for the entire family.

A Random Photo of a Jamba Juice Smoothie by Like_the_Grand_Canyon

Here is the recipe I use for two people:

• 1/2 Cup Soy Milk
• 3/4 Cup Peach Juice (I use canned peach nectar)
• 1 Scoop Lime Sherbet (1 Scoop ≈ 1/2 Cup)
• 1 Scoop Raspberry Sherbet
• 1 Scoop Orange Sherbet
• 1 Scoop Pineapple Sherbet
• 1/2 Cup Frozen Mangoes

Mangoes by pagehalffull

To make this all happen, put all ingredients except the mangoes in a blender. If you are using a blender made for home use, it may not be the easiest thing to use, but make sure to blend until your smoothie is completely mixed. Once you’ve gotten it smooth, add the mangoes. Make sure to leave little pieces of mango because it adds that “gummy bear” texture that I love.

Please feel free to leave any comments you may have. Once you’ve given this recipe a try, I suggest mixing things up and substituting the peach juice with raspberry or multi-berry juice and the frozen mangoes with frozen strawberries. If you do this, you’ll have a red gummy smoothie…the second best smoothie in the world.

I had the opportunity to work for a major airline, so I was able to do quite a bit of free standby traveling.  Since time off was a bit scarce, there wasn’t much time to travel…so I made a point to travel somewhere every chance I got.  I turned in to a day trip traveler…taking red-eye flights to my destinations and late night flights back home.

Times Square

One of my favorite day trips was to New York City.  I’ve always dreamed of visiting the Big Apple after already visting (and living in) Los Angeles.  Since my parents flew free as well, I talked my dad into tagging along.  My travel base is the Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC), so we took a midnight red-eye non-stop to the JFK Airport in New York City (JFK). [Note: I put the airport codes in here since my mind still thinks of them whenever I think of airports.]

Times Square

The midnight flight got us to New York around 6:30am.  I love public transit, so of course we took the AirTrain from JFK to the subway system…and from there took the subway into Manhattan.  The first stop was Times Square.  I love marketing and advertising, so it was awesome to see everything first-hand…It’s true that advertisers there have to rise above the clutter to get their products seen.

Rockefeller Center

After Times Square, Rockefeller Center was next on the list.  There wasn’t enough time to visit inside any buildings since our flight home was at 7pm, but we got to be on NBC’s Today Show for a few seconds as the camera panned across the crowd next to the studio.  Next up on the list was Central Park.

Central Park Hot Dog

I’ve heard about how big Central Park is, and I’ve seen fly-overs of it on TV shows and in movies, but I’ve never thought it was as huge as it is.  We entered from the South side and wandered through the park for a long time.  Everyone and their dogs (literally) were enjoying the open space inside the city.  I ate my first street vendor hot dog loaded with tons of good New York toppings, and we continued through the park.  With the clock ticking, we only saw about half of the park…the zoo will have to wait until next time I guess.

World Trade Center

We caught a subway from Central Park and headed South.  After grabbing some Slurpees from 7-11, we walked toward the World Trade Center site.  It was unbelievable to be in the spot I had seen on TV so many times.  I was full of respect for all those who had lost their lives in the unfortunate events that had taken place there.  We continued toward Battery Park where we looked out toward the Statue of Liberty.  There was no time to take the ferry to visit the island, so we continued along the bank into the financial district.

Brooklyn Bridge

Our path on foot led us to the Brooklyn Bridge, where we took a few minutes to sit down and look at the bridge, over into Brooklyn.  We went to Ray’s Pizza on 27 Prince Street.  We had some of the famous thin crust pizza as our day was coming to an end.

China Town

As all my day trips go, it was already time to continue on to the next sight.  Not knowing the exact way to get there, we found our way to China Town where we found great deals on souvenirs for the family.  We were a bit hungry again by this time, but had New York style pizza on our minds.  We continued (on foot) towards 34th street where we took a pit stop at Macy’s Department Store.  Our next stop before lunch was to find the Empire State Building.  From a distance, it’s not hard to spot it, but once you’re on the street level without any maps, it can be quite tricky.

Empire State Building

Dog in Stroller

David Letterman

After wandering around and passing a guy pushing his dog in a stroller, we found the Empire State Building.  To say we’ve been inside it, we took an escalator to the 2nd floor…I guess I saved the trip to the top for next time since we hurried off to lunch.  Our last stops were David Letterman’s studio and Rupert Jee’s Hello Deli next door…and we walked back through Times Square on our way to the subway.

Fortunately, we made the standby list at the airport for a non-stop flight from JFK to SLC.  It was quite the day.  Writing this makes me really glad that I was able to have those flight benefits.  I love day trips and will hopefully have some time to share more of my adventures.  I may even be able to do a couple weekend trips over the next year.  It won’t be on a standby list, but it should be close enough.

It’s nice to sip a rich warm cup of hot chocolate on a chilly day.  I’ve found a great way to mix things up a bit and make a great version of this winter classic.

Photo by Fir0002/Flagstaffotos

My take on peppermint hot chocolate is flavored with real peppermint leaves.  Here are the simple steps to make two servings:

1. Steep one sachet of peppermint herbal tea in about two cups of milk (not water).
2. Remove the sachet after the peppermint has infused in the milk.
3. Add two tablespoons of a dark cocoa powder and about two tablespoons of table sugar.  Stir well.
4. Mix in a handful of milk chocolate chips.  Yes, we are adding quite a lot of chocolate to this recipe—but it is called hot chocolate for a reason.
5. Pour the hot chocolate into two mugs and top it off with whipped cream or marshmallows and a sprinkle of cocoa powder.
6. I used Celestial Seasonings Peppermint Herbal Tea, Hershey Special Dark Dutch & Natural Cocoa, and Nestlé Toll House Milk Chocolate Chips…but any brand will get you real close to my favorite flavor.
7. Well there’s the recipe…it may not sound very appetizing to mix peppermint herbal tea with chocolate, but when it’s done like this you’ll wonder why you’ve never tried it before.

Please try it out and leave your comments below.

Image by thebittenword.com

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